For Whom the Bell Tolls

In 1937, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls.

The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal, a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss.

A Moveable Feast

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft.

Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises

In the summer of 1925, Ernest Hemingway and a clique of raucous companions traveled to Pamplona, Spain, for the town's infamous running of the bulls. Then, over the next six weeks, he channeled that trip's maelstrom of drunken brawls, sexual rivalry, midnight betrayals, and midday hangovers into his groundbreaking novel The Sun Also Rises. This revolutionary work redefined modern literature as much as it did his peers, who would forever after be called the Lost Generation.

Islands in the Stream

First published in 1970, nine years after Hemingway's death, this is the story of an artist and adventurer, a man much like Hemingway himself. Beginning in the 1930s, Islands in the Stream follows the fortunes of Thomas Hudson, from his experiences as a painter on the Gulf Stream island of Bimini through his antisubmarine activities off the coast of Cuba during World War II. Hemingway is at his mature best in this beguiling tale.

The Short Stories, Volume I

This definitive audio collection, read by Stacy Keach, traces the development and maturation of Hemingway's distinct and revolutionary storytelling style - from the plain bald language of his first story to his mastery of seamless prose that contained a spare, eloquent pathos, as well as a sense of expansive solitude. These stories showcase the singular talent of a master, the most important American writer of the 20th century.

The Sound and the Fury

First published in 1929, Faulkner created his "heart's darling", the beautiful and tragic Caddy Compson, whose story Faulkner told through separate monologues by her three brothers: the idiot Benjy, the neurotic suicidal Quentin, and the monstrous Jason.

Tender Is the Night

Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character - lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative.

To Have and Have Not

To Have and Have Not is the dramatic story of Harry Morgan, an honest man who is forced into running contraband between Cuba and Key West as a means of keeping his crumbling family financially afloat. His adventures lead him into the world of wealthy and dissipated yachtsmen who throng the region, and involve him in a strange and unlikely love affair.

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby....

On the Road: 50th Anniversary Edition

Few novels have had as profound an impact on American culture as On the Road. Pulsating with the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, illicit drugs, and the mystery and promise of the open road, Kerouac's classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be "beat" and has inspired generations of writers, musicians, artists, poets, and seekers who cite their discovery of the book as the event that "set them free".

The Grapes of Wrath

At once naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath is perhaps the most American of American classics. Although it follows the movement of thousands of men and women and the transformation of an entire nation during the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath is also the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, who are forced to travel west to the promised land of California.

This Side of Paradise

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s pseudo- autobiographical first novel. It describes life at Princeton among the glittering, bored, and disillusioned “lost generation” of post World War1 America. Published in 1920, when he was just 23, the novel was an overnight success and propelled Fitzgerald to instant stardom as spokesman of the Jazz Age.

The Stranger

Albert Camus' The Stranger is one of the most widely read novels in the world, with millions of copies sold. It stands as perhaps the greatest existentialist tale ever conceived, and is certainly one of the most important and influential books ever produced. Now, for the first time, this revered masterpiece is available as an unabridged audio production.

Catch-22

Catch-22 is set in the closing months of World War II, in an American bomber squadron on a small island off Italy. Its hero is a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. (He has decided to live forever, even if he has to die in the attempt.)

Slaughterhouse-Five

Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).

The Nick Adams Stories

"Of the place where he had been a boy he had written well enough. As well as he could then." So thought a dying writer in an early version of The Snows of Kilimanjaro. The writer was, of course, Ernest Hemingway. The place was the Michigan of his boyhood, where he remembered himself as Nick Adams. The now-famous "Nick Adams" stories show a memorable character growing from child to adolescent to soldier, veteran, writer, and parent - a sequence closely paralleling the events of Hemingway's life.

The Short Stories, Volume III

Before he gained wide fame as a novelist, Ernest Hemingway established his literary reputation with his short stories. Set in the varied landscapes of Spain, Africa, and the American Midwest, this definitive audio collection traces the development and maturation of Hemingway's distinct and revolutionary storytelling style - from the plain bold language of this first story to his mastery of seamless prose that contained a spare, eloquent pathos, as well as a sense of expansive solitude.

Women: A Novel

Low-life writer and unrepentant alcoholic Henry Chinaski was born to survive. After decades of slacking off at low-paying dead-end jobs, blowing his cash on booze and women, and scrimping by in flea-bitten apartments, Chinaski sees his poetic star rising at last. Now, at 50, he is reveling in his sudden rock-star life, running three hundred hangovers a year, and maintaining a sex life that would cripple Casanova.

Hemingway in Love: His Own Story

In June of 1961, A. E. Hotchner visited an old friend in the psychiatric ward of St. Mary's Hospital. It would be the last time they spoke: a few weeks later, Ernest Hemingway was released home, where he took his own life. Their final conversation was also the final installment in a story whose telling Hemingway had spread over nearly a decade.

Cannery Row

Published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Henri, Mack and his boys, and the other characters in this world where only the fittest survive, to create a novel that is at once one of his most humorous and most poignant works.

The Age of Innocence

The Age of Innocence is a powerful depiction of love and desire in New York's glamorous Gilded Age. When Newland Archer, happily engaged to May Welland, meets his fiancée's cousin Ellen, his entire future is cast into doubt: strong-willed, witty, and entirely unpretentious, Ellen is unlike any woman he has ever met. He is torn between his infatuation for her and his duty to marry May. In subtle and elegant language, Wharton delivers a critical look at the social mores of the time.

The Paris Wife: A Novel

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet 28eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Publisher's Summary

The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the story introduces two of Hemingway's most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley.

Follow the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

I'm sorry but William Hurt hurts this novel. He does fine with the dialogue passages which makes sense i guess as an actor, but his voice and bored rendition of the narrative passages is just plain poor. At times as he's reading it seemed that he was seeing the text for the first time, his emphasis and inflection is off all over the place.

This is a great novel and I wish they would get the reading by Adams that Books on Tape had that I bought the cassettes of years ago. Much better reading. Adams did many of EH's novels and did them well, and though then I may have wished for variety in voices, I'd take those now.

Nice idea to have distinctive voices for EH, but you need some more dynamic readers, not ones that sound bored by the project. Donald Sutherland is a great actor, but a terrible reader of Old Man. Get the Charlton Heston versions of Old Man and Snows if you can and Scourby's reading of Macomber is awesome, Heston and Scourby are perfection.

I cant stay awake through the "Hurt" I realize there are all different tastes and people prefer different narrational styles. However William Hurt to my ears is so painfully flat, droning, and lacking any real character depth in his narration as to make this book listenable. I have had this book for over 6 months and have tried to listen to is many times without success. This is very rare for me to be unable to listen to a story (especially a well written story) due to the narrator. I have narrators I prefer not to listen to (Scott Brick) however I still managed to listen through a @40 hour book (The Company) multiple times in the years it has been in my library. This book however is possibly the first time in my @15 years as an Audible subscriber I can't manage to finish to a book I purchased. Hell I doubt I have managed to stay awake through more than the first couple of hours. As for who to read this story, I would say Campbell Scott. He did a fantastic job on For Whom the Bell Tolls. For me Campbell Scott just gets the Hemingway pacing, cool and tonality.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Hugely disappointed by the monotone narration. Such a waste of a good story and a credit.

Any additional comments?

Listen to the sample very carefully, It doesn't get any better and probably gets much worse. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Can I get a refund for this wasted credit?

This is possibly the best audio book I have ever listened to. William Hurt's narration is masterful bordering on dramatization but never losing touch with the classic Hemingway prose. This is one of those rare books that I did not want to end. It is altogether possible I will listen to it again simply because it was such a pleasure.

Magnificent character study; superlative because each personality is introduced, developed and metamorphosed into a looking glass examination of human nature. Be careful before you pick up this book to read or listen to. Hemingway is not studying the joys of life; rather its drudgeries.

There is joy in the book though. It comes from Hemingway’s ability to describe, the Running of the Bulls the antecedent and integral part of the Bull Fight, as the process is known in English. Hemmingway teaches us that the English words, Bull Fight, do not do justice to the ritual. His description is magical. His narrative may be the most famous modelling of sacramental activity in all of literature. It description becomes a second tale within the overall saga. It is the story of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, the eight-day festival of Sanfermines in honor of Saint Fermin. Just a magnificent telling. The world wide fame of the Pamplona festival, comes directly from Hemingway, in the Sun also Rises.

To top it all off, William Hurt narrates. There could not be a more perfect depiction of Hemingway’s words, a perfect reflection of the novel’s tenor, and an opportunity to visit genius at work. Remember, though, this book does not tell you of a happy time. Right down to its final sentence it leaves one irresolute about life.

I really liked the characters and how Hemingway introduces and then holds true to their persona in the book. I liked the flow and pace of the book, I think the descriptions of Paris and the Spanish country were telling.

What can I say about this novel that hasn't already been said by those with more critical minds and more eloquent praise. Sparsely told with characters and locales who come to life in ways most writers wish they were capable. Captures a time and a sense of being long before I existed, but never seems out dated or obsolete. From France to Spain, from the long days at the cafes to the running of the bulls, this tells the tale of post WWI with exquisite detail. That said (and I do not offer this as criticism, simply fact) -- if you are looking for a "quick paced page-turner" this may not be for you. This is meant to be taken in slowly, savoring each word.

I had to read this book for a university course. First I read the novel myself and then listened to William Hurt's narration. He made the novel come alive for me and inspired me to write my essay on this novel. I especially enjoyed his characterization of Bill's dialogue. I would recommend this audio book to anyone looking for an enjoyable experience.

Would you try another book written by Ernest Hemingway or narrated by William Hurt?

This was my first encounter with Hemingway, and threatened to be my last. If I had been listening to an author without such a pedigree, and therfore couldn't go online and be reminded by all and sundry that this is a defining novel, I suspect I would have walked away. This is undoubtedly partly my own fault - I came at the novel cold, without any reading about the context or themes, which at the distance of years would have been extremely useful. However, I believe much of the problem was the narration, which frequently irritated enough to distract concentration from the story. I'm a Scot, so Mike was a bad start - a cartoon character, sounding like a drunken Shrek. The other Brits had accents equally comic-book ridiculous, Brett's variable and often grating American take on Brit upper class just about killing her characterisation. Add in some Fawlty Towers Spaniards and only the Americans sound in any way true. In addition the narrator seems to eschew any flowing sentence structure, pausing where (I presume?) there is no punctuation in the novel, and sometimes grinding almost to a halt before jolting off. Again, perhaps my lack of familiarity with Hemingway is to blame, and he is supposed to be read in the form of heroic poetry, but I found it another layer of distraction.

Any additional comments?

Having read a number of online notes about the book since listening, I would certainly revisit it, as clearly I missed much of what makes this novel stand out. However, that will be a different narrator or a hard copy. Meanwhile I will buy another Hemingway on Audible, and watch Shrek again, where a stereotyped Scottish accent can be appropriately enjoyed.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Daria

budapestHungary

1/19/10

Overall

"Excellent Book."

A classic novel that stay forever. Fantastic narrator. Enjoyed it very much!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Alison R.

11/19/16

Overall

"Atmospheric"

Quite drole and random but atmospheric. William Hurt's delivery takes time to adjust to.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

S. A. J. Duffy

Cornwall

8/2/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"The worst ever ..."

Scottish accent ever and French and English. Makes Hemingway sound like an idiot. William Hurt, if you exist, give up. Complete crap like most Audible.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Gavin Jones

7/14/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Mr Hurt's Scottish Accent"

Any additional comments?

Mr Hurt's Scottish accent really has to be heard to be believed. It is truly a thing of wonder. I'm sure I detected, Scotland, Ireland (North and South), Liverpool and, bizarrely, at one stage Somerset. As the Scottish character is really rather important this, as other people have said, tended to spoil the whole experience. A shame because the story is great.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Lorrie Loo

2/9/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"What a way to ruin a good story!"

Would you try another book written by Ernest Hemingway or narrated by William Hurt?

I was looking forward to listening to this story, but oh, what a disappointment! I never want to listen to William Hurt reading again.

What didn’t you like about William Hurt’s performance?

He made it sound dull and was hopeless at the accents.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I was intrigued by the story. What sad empty lives all the characters led. So much drinking and smoking and falling in and out of love. I much enjoyed the bullfighting in Pamploma.

Any additional comments?

I look forward to reading and listening to more stories by Ernest Hemingway as long as they are NOT read by William Hurt1

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

David

New Ross, Ireland

10/25/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Excellent crisp and concise"

Wonderful book full of atmosphere and interesting characters. warning some may find Semitic references upsetting.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Victoria

OAKHAM, United Kingdom

11/20/12

Overall

"Hemingway is good... this version is not!"

Hemingway is great. This is a good book, but the accents put on by the narrator ruined it. The Scottish sounded welsh, or occasionally it sounded like a parody of Scottish, the Spanish was very questionable, and the narrator sometimes seemed to forget who had what accent- so Brett often sounded American, and then to compensate she sounded ridiculously English in the next breath!

I wouldn't mind too much if this audiobook had cost 99p, but for the price it was very badly done! And it's hard to ruin Hemingway.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

James

Chester, United Kingdom

9/20/12

Overall

"Mmmm"

Hard to destroy Hemingway, and Hurt doesn't but his scottish accent for Mike is embarassing - it could be Welsh sometimes - and Brett he misses altogether but there is always a pleasure in hearing a Hemingway aloud.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

David Shipp

4/12/12

Overall

"Kept my interest"

Very well narrated. I think Mr Hurt captured the pace and metre of Hemingway's work very well.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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